Declare foreign bank accounts, furniture and electronic items above Rs 1 Lakh: Government officials told

NEW DELHI: The Modi government wants all government officials to reveal by next April whether they have any foreign bank accounts and if they own any piece of furniture, antiques or electronic items worth more than Rs One Lakh. This is part of new set of notified rules under the Lokpal Act.

The operationalisation of the Lokpal Law has been delayed to July next year as government has notified that further amendments to the Act will take time to be passed by Parliament. The original Lokpal Act enacted on January 16, 2014 envisaged that all laws will be brought in conformity with it within one year. The new notification now extends the period to 18 months from enactment of the law. "The introduction of a Bill to amend the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 and its passing by Parliament and enforcement is likely to take time, and hence it has become necessary to extend the said period to 18 months," a December 26 notification says.

The government has amended the asset declaration forms that are required to be filled by all government officials by April 30, 2015 and submitted to the government before operationalization of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Law. The revised forms now say that every government servant will also have to give details of "Furniture, fittings, antiques, paintings, electronic items" and any other movable asset owned by him or his immediate family member whose current value exceeds his two months basic salary or Rs 1 Lakh. It has also been specified in the new forms that details of deposits in foreign banks by the government servant or any of his immediate family members is to be provided "separately" besides local deposits.

The exercise has been done to simplify the forms issued first in July after officials termed the original forms as complex and also raised concerns over the assets of them and their family members being put out in public domain on government websites, as per requirements of the Lokpal Law.

The revised forms, though simplified, have however not given any concession to the government officials who will still have to declare each and every asset owned by them, their spouse and dependent children to the government. The earlier forms had tasked upon a government servants to also declare if he owned any "motor vehicle, aircraft, yacht or ship", a somewhat unrealistic proposition. The new forms limits this category only to motor vehicles.